The present invention relates generally to dual container systems, and more particularly to an improved dual container system featuring an impact-resistant container which possesses one uniform wall thickness throughout the entirety of its body and provides a unique horizontal support for its counterpart container that engages therewith.
It is a common practice for manufacturers and/or retailers to employ the use of containers for packaging their products and making them available in the marketplace. These containers not only protect the products from contamination, but may further facilitate the use of the products. Indeed, the significance and importance of providing user-friendly containers are truly appreciated by various industries as they can increase the overall attractiveness and appeal of the products in the marketplace.
One notable type of user-friendly container currently in use is the dual container system which typically allows large and small containers to be cooperatively engaged with each other. Dual container systems offer the convenience and freedom of product mobility as the smaller container can always be disengaged from the larger container and accompany the consumer.
To illustrate this point by way of an example, the dual container system may be adapted for frequent traveling as the smaller container containing a product such as shampoo or soap may be taken along. This obviously eases the size of the load that the traveler has to carry. Of course, the larger container can be left behind and provide all the functions of a traditional container when the traveler returns home.
Although the current dual container systems may achieve their primary objective of product user-friendliness, they possess certain deficiencies which detract from their overall utility. Perhaps the greatest deficiency of the conventional dual container systems is the inability to withstand repeated or repetitive impacts originating from their environment. The dual container systems of the conventional art are frequently subjected to tear and/or rupture as many of them are repeatedly dropped and/or mishandled during their shipment and/or storage.
In particular, the recess of the larger container which is used for engaging the smaller container is vulnerable to tear and/or rupture as its edges forming the outer boundaries thereof are not sufficiently thickened. Even more vulnerable than the recess edges are the corners formed on the bottom portion the recess. More particularly, these bottom corners of the recess are extremely thin compared to the other portions of the larger container. This is understood to be a result of manufacturing deficiency in which insufficient amounts of preform materials are distributed to that region.
As such, while the rest of the larger container is uniformly thickened to a sufficient degree, it is often the case that the bottom corners of its recess fail to reach the same, or even similar, thickness. In this regard, the bottom recess corners are especially prone to being torn or ruptured. Obviously, this has the inevitable negative effect of spilling or discharging some, if not all, of the products contained within the larger container. The product loss resulting from such structural failure may become burdensome when translated into dollars and cents in loss profits.
Another significant deficiency that casts a shadow upon the dual container systems of the conventional art is the inability of the larger container to provide an adequate horizontal support for the smaller container. Although various container systems may provide certain individualistic mechanisms for engaging the smaller container, they all essentially follow the same guideline of trapping or capturing the smaller container within the recess through the use of a compressive force.
However, those mechanisms cannot account for certain situations such as the smaller container being inadvertently slipped out through the underside of the recess due to the force of gravity. This scenario is more likely to happen as the time goes on since the mechanisms for engaging the smaller container would eventually become weakened. As such, the risk of container slippage is a possibility which can detrimentally undermine the overall utility and value of the dual container system.
In view of the above-described shortcomings of the conventional dual container systems, there exists a clear need in the art for an improved dual container system which has a sufficient structural integrity to withstand a single significant impact and/or repeated impacts that are undesirably imposed thereon. Moreover, there exists a further need in the art for an improved dual container system that can provide an adequate horizontal support to its smaller container so as to prevent any inadvertent slippage from underneath the recess of the larger container.